Steve Smith: Carl Palmer on tour, The Four Kings Cousins reunite and new releases

September 1972: Pop musicians (from left to right) Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, of the group Emerson Lake And Palmer - or ELP for short, receive their awards at the 1972 Melody Maker Pop Poll; readers of the weekly music paper voted ELP the World's Top Group, and between then they won seven awards. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy Tour

Carl Palmer, who remains with prog-rock outfit Asia, is undertaking an ongoing tour to pay homage to his former band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, announced his website. The new trio consists of the 63-year-old Palmer on drums and percussions, Paul Bielatowicz on guitar and Simon Fitzpatrick on bass.

The ELP Legacy Tour, which includes instrumental versions of such ELP favorites as “Karn Evil 9,” Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and a pair of Aaron Copland classics, “Hoedown” and “Fanfare for the Common Man,” hit Poland this for three shows. The tour resumes in January after the holidays when the trio plays 14 sows in Britain from Jan. 25–Mar. 2. During the U.K. jaunt, they’ll travel to Tel Aviv, Israel, in Feb. 6 for a one-nighter.

After 28 years, Emerson, Lake and Palmer called it quits in 1998 after a show in San Diego. On July 10, 2010, ELP reunited for a one-off 40th anniversary show at the High Voltage Festival in London’s Victoria Park before a crowd of 30,000.

The Four King Cousins reunite

After an absence of more than 30 years, The Four King Cousins reunited for a sold-out concert that included Larry King (no relation) and glitzy fashion designer Bob Mackie, at the Catalina Jazz Club on fabled Sunset Blvd., in Hollywood, reports Broadway World.

The four female King Cousins, cousins and daughter of the singing big band-era King Sisters, includes Tina Cole, who achieved additional fame as a co-star on the CBS comedy, “My Three Sons,” from 1967-1972 as Katie, wife of son Robbie, played by the late actor-musician Don Grady (who was drummer in The Yellow Balloon).

The Cousins, who starred on network TV in the ‘60s in “The King Family Show” and “The Kraft Summer Music Hall,” reunited, backed by an orchestra, to promote their new CD, the 14-song retrospective, “More Today Than Yesterday: Classic Songs of the 60s & 70s” and their new music video, a cover of the Petula Clark hit, “I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love,” and to mark the 45th anniversary of the release of “Introducing The Four King Cousins.”

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Bedecked in glamorous gowns similar to the ones they wore in their heyday, the four gals ran through a set that ran from Bobby Troupe’s “Route 66” and Glenn Miller’s signature “In the Mood” to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” that appeared on their debut LP and Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park,” and the Alan and Marilyn Bergman rarity, “Come Love” to a gospel medley before closing with Webb’s “Last Song.”

Now that they’re back onstage together, The Four King Cousins have no intention of re-retiring. They plan on touring the country with this new show. Details to come.

New Releases

Among the recently released albums, digital reissues, MP3 downloads and deluxe box sets are a 63-track, 2-CD “On Air — Live At The BBC Volume 2” from The Beatles that includes 37 previously unreleased performances including their direct-on-the-air live takes on Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You” and their version of the last song Stephen Foster wrote, “Beautiful Dreamer” that is unlike any other take ever, and a remastered update on their 1994 2-CD, “Live At The BBC,” that includes 56 songs recorded at London’s BBC Studios between 1962-1965 (also available as a combined 4-CD box set).

A 4-CD box of The Who’s first rock opera, “Tommy (Super Deluxe Edition)” that features dozens of previously unreleased demos, alternate takes and live performances from the band’s 1969 promo tour; a 2-CD import, “Rumbles Rawhides Jacks & Aces 1956-1962,” from American rockabilly and rock and roll guitar pioneer Link Wray; an 82-song, 3-CD box, “Yes, Ma’am, He Found Me in a Honky Tonk,” from country singing bass player Leona William, who George Jones called the best female country singer ever; and “Inside Llewyn Davis (Original Soundtrack Recording)” features songs featuring Marcus Mumford, Justin Timberlake, Greenwich Village folk icon Dave Van Ronk and a previously unreleased studio version of “Farewell,” written and recorded in 1963 by Bob Dylan.

“Under the Covers, Vol. 3” continues the series of retro covers albums from Bangles leader Susanna Hoffs and her cohort, power pop singer-guitarist Matthew Sweet that sees them deliver their takes on 14 of their favorite songs from 80s, such as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” Elvis Costello’s “Girls Talk,” The Bangles’ ‘80s rivals The Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed,” Kirsty MacColl’s “They Don’t Know” that was a hit for comedienne-singer Tracy Ullman, The English Beat’s “Save It for Later,” Roxy Music’s “More Than This,” and The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?”

A 2-CD, “Standards & Rarities: That’s Where I Came In,” contains soft-voiced Perry Como’s uncharted 45s and B-sides from the ‘40s and ‘50s; the 15-song live album, “Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow,” from singer Adam Duritz and his alt rock band Counting Crows that was recorded on their North American tour last year; “Snow Globe” the 15th studio album since 1986 from English synthpop duo Erasure that is highlighted by the 16th century Christmas carol, “Gaudete,” that was a hit in the U.K. in 1973 for British electric Elizabethan folkies Steeleye Span; a 24-track, “The Artistry of Brenda Holloway, from the Motown singer who retired in 1968 when she was only 22; “Still Fighting the War” from alt-country vet Staid Cleaves includes “In The Rain” with folkie Eliza Gilkyson; and “Here to Stay — Best of 2000-2012” from American heartland rocker John Hiatt sees him joined by hotshot guitarist Joe Bonamassa on the title cut.

The 2-CD, “Live in Montreal 1977,” from English prog rock deities Emerson, Lake and Palmer delivers not only a nearly 16-minute “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky and an almost-18-minute long version of Aaron Copeland’s 1942 “Fanfare for the Common Man” that includes Dave Brubeck’s 1959 “Blue Rondo a la Turk” but ELP’s epic “Pirates” and Emerson’s barrelhouse take on B. Bumble and The Stinger’s “Nut Rocker” that hit No. 1 in the U.K. in 1962.

A 6-CD box reissue, “Creedence Clearwater Revival” contains all seven Fantasy Records LPs from 1967-1972 plus 25 pre-CCR rarities; “Covered” is the fifth album from actress and lounge singer Katey Sagal and includes yet another different take on Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” while “Goodbye” features Jackson Browne; and “Fun Food Songs” is a 15-song compilation from veteran Canadian Raffi, who’s been entertaining the kiddies since the ‘70s and includes such tasty treats as “Peanut Butter Sandwich,” “Brush Your Teeth” and the Harry Belafonte smash, “Day-O,” aka “The Banana Boat Song.”

You get 28 songs on American folkie contingent The New Christy Minstrels’ “Merry Christmas! The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings 1963-1966; a 4-CD, 58-song box set, “Never My Love: The Anthology,” is made up of a couple complete studio LPs, unreleased studio recordings, an unreleased show he did in 1971 at the Bitter End in New York City and his duets with Roberta Flack; “The Fame Singles Volume 2, 1970-73” from soul singer Clarence Carter of “Slip Away” and “Patches” fame; a 3-CD live set from 1995, “Niagara Falls,” from jam band icons Phish; and a 9-CD box package, “The Original Mono Recordings,” from legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis.

A 4-CD pack, “Audio Fidelity Collection (24k Limited Edition Box Set),” from Deep Purple’s classic 1970- 1973 lineup that included guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord; a 34-CD box set, “The Complete Columbia Album Collection 1972-1988” from jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock; an 11-CD kit, “1970-1987,” from guitar vet Ry Cooder; a 5-CD box, “1982-1989,” from John Mellencamp; a dozen country hits are found in “Sammy Kershaw Big Hits Volume One”; and for that ideal Christmas gift the someone who has everything, the import, “God Bless Tiny Tim: Deluxe Expanded Mono Edition,” the 1968 debut LP from the long scraggly-haired falsetto-voiced uke-playing crooner that of course includes his novelty smash, “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips” that first hit the top of the charts in, get this, 1929.

Note from the Editor: Steve Smith’s music columns will now post online in two parts each week on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.